Lola Rugula

Due to the popularity of my recent Hibiscus Tea Recipe, I want to share another delicious and healthy tea with you and this one’s made from dried butterfly pea flowers.

Like my hibiscus tea recipe, this tea is also beautiful and it’s also packed full of good-for-you anthocyanins, which are found especially in foods and beverages that are naturally blue, purple, and deep red. Anthocyanins fight free radicals that are attacking your body every day which is why it’s always good to include a variety of purple, blue, and dark red foods into your diet.

Butterfly pea flowers produce a beautiful dark blue tea. I like mine with fresh lemon juice and, when you add lemon to the blue tea, it instantly turns purple. I’ve seen this beverage called a lot of things, including unicorn tea, rainbow tea, and magic tea. There’s really no magic to its color change though, it’s simply just the lemon changing the ph of the beverage.

Just check out the colors of this tea!

How to Make Butterfly Pea Flower Tea

• 4 cups water
• 1/2 cup dried butterfly pea flowers
• Fresh lemon juice and lemon slices for serving, optional (I like mine lemony so I use about 1 tablespoon per 8 oz. glass, plus 1 lemon slice per glass)

Directions

• In a medium saucepan, bring water barely to the boiling point and remove from heat
• Stir in dried butterfly pea flowers
• If making for hot tea, let steep 20 minutes, strain, and serve
• If making cold tea, let sit until cool, strain, and chill
• If desired stir in fresh lemon juice and/or serve with lemon slices right before serving
• If you prefer your tea sweet, add sweetener of your choice

I took these photos during one of our annual heatwaves so I was quite glad to enjoy a glass when I was finished! If you’re interested in where to find butterfly pea flowers, I buy them on Amazon. I hope if you get the chance, you’ll give this a try. Stay cool out there and enjoy!

If you’re looking for a slightly tart but refreshing treat, you need to be making hibiscus tea at home. I typically make it as iced tea but it’s pretty darned delicious hot, too. If you were to ask me what hibiscus tea tastes like, the best comparison I can give you is cranberry tea. It’s tart for sure, but also crisp and fresh.

I purchase my dried hibiscus flowers in big 1 lb. bags through Amazon and then make tea a big pitcher at a time. A little squeeze of fresh lime juice is a nice addition but more often than not I enjoy mine without any add-ins at all.

Homemade Hibiscus Tea from Dried Hibiscus Flowers Recipe

• 16 cups cold water, 4 cups reserved for boiling then steeping hibiscus blossoms
• 2 cups dried hibiscus flowers

Directions – Makes 4 quarts/1 Gallon

• Place 4 cups of the water in a large saucepan and bring to a boil
• Remove from heat, stir in dried hibiscus flowers, and let steep at least 30 minutes
• While the flowers are steeping, add the remaining cold water to a pitcher
• When the flowers are done steeping, use a fine-mesh strainer and strain into another pan or heat-safe bowl and let cool completely
• Discard hibiscus flowers (great for the compost bin!)
• When cooled, add the hibiscus flower concentrate to the pitcher of water, stir well, and refrigerate
• If desired, serve with slices of lime

It’s easy to make this in smaller batches if you like; just figure 1/2 cup hibiscus flowers to 4 cups of water or 1 cup of hibiscus flowers to 8 cups of water. If you want to make a small batch, a coffee press works great for steeping and straining.

If you prefer a little sweetener in your tea, add a little bit of honey, agave nectar, or sugar. You can also add a few sprigs of fresh basil or mint for some color and added flavor. If you’d like to enjoy an adult hibiscus cocktail, try mixing it with with your favorite liquor. 🙂

I stumbled upon making this tea and after drinking it realized that it seems to have a calming effect, at least for me. I wondered about whether it was possible that it had calming properties so I did a little research and found something even more interesting. Did you know that a study showed that hibiscus tea can actually lower your blood pressure? I think this really shows the power of nature, don’t you?

I will warn you though: this tea will stain just about anything it comes in contact with so be very careful when straining and pouring that you don’t get any on your clothes. I find that most cleaners get it off my counter tops pretty easily; if there’s a stubborn spot Bar Keeper’s Friend finishes the job quickly.

Making hibiscus tea from dried hibiscus flowers is just as easy as making any type of tea but the benefits of hibiscus tea seem to a good reason to enjoy it. I do hope you’ll try it and would love to hear your feedback if you have.

Cheers!